What does current research say?

"...resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary."[1]

Harm and suffering is rarely escaped entirely, even by the most resilient child, but there are traits and ways to decrease the negative effects.[2]
  • Protective Factors:[3]
    • Can help children to resist stressors (emotional, social, etc.)
    • Having one or more can reduce the effects of a child's exposure to trauma or stress. The more protective factors that are present, the more resilient a person could be.
  • Four Patterns of Resilience:
    • Dispositional - one having a sense of autonomy, self-worth, good health, etc.
    • Relational - one's role in society and in their relationships
    • Situational - one's ability to problem solve, make goals, and take action
    • Philosophical - one's belief that there is good in all situations and that self-development is important
  • Other factors that seem to be related include:
    • having motivation
    • using time in positive ways
    • family support and expectations
    • school and learning environment facilities, technology use, leadership)
  • Having a basis of knowledge can help create and promote more effective education strategies for at-risk students because instructional practices and the classroom environment matter.[4]
    • Fewer instructional strategies are effective for nonresilient students
    • Direct instruction is more suited for resilient students so that at-risk children are not being taught in a way that suits them.
    • Increased student-teacher interaction leads to a smaller gap between those resilient and nonresilient students.
    • More explanations, more encouragement, encouraging student engagement, responses, and successes, and having a focus on the task's learning processes contribute to a more positive classroom environment, which can translate to a child having a greater sense of community, autonomy, self-worth, and problem solving, in turn, possibly leading to greater school success.
  • Five practices to improve education outcomes of at-risk children:[5]
    • cognitively-guided instruction
    • teachers that are responsive to cultural differences
    • integration of technology into instruction
    • cooperative learning
    • instructional conversations
  • Five resilience strategies that teachers can implement:[6]
    • help to develop attachment relationships and create those opportunities - provide caring and support
    • help a student gain a sense of mastery - have high expectations
    • help to build social skills, along with academic skills
    • try to reduce the superfluous stressors in a child's life
    • find resources that can help a child

  1. ^ American Psychological Center. (2013). The road to resilience. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx
  2. ^ Bickert, T.S., Wolin, S. (1997). Practicing resilience in the elementary classroom. Principal Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.projectresilience.com/article17.htm
  3. ^ Gonzalez, O. (n.d.). Resiliency training. Retrieved from http://wellness.med.miami.edu/documents/Resiliency_Training.pdf
  4. ^ Waxman, H.C., Gray, J.P., Padron, Y.N. (2003). Review of research on educational resilience. Center for research on education diversity & excellence, 11,1-22. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/crede/pdfs/rr11.pdf
  5. ^ Waxman, H.C., Gray, J.P., Padron, Y.N. (2003). Review of research on educational resilience. Center for research on education diversity & excellence, 11,1-22. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/crede/pdfs/rr11.pdf
  6. ^ Waxman, H.C., Gray, J.P., Padron, Y.N. (2003). Review of research on educational resilience. Center for research on education diversity & excellence, 11,1-22. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/crede/pdfs/rr11.pdf